Sunny Queen launches egg-citing augmented reality collectible cards

Sunny Queen Farms has launched a new limited edition collectible range of augmented reality cards using the latest in animation technology.

The collection features a range of child-friendly egg characters in limited edition egg boxes, with each card having the capability to come to life on a customer’s smartphone.

While the technology itself is not new, it is the first time augmented reality has been used for consumer goods in Australia, which is why Sunny Queen said it is expecting its unique range of cards to become the next big thing.

“We wanted to do something special,” Sunny Queen general manager of marketing and innovation, Julie Proctor, said. “We have gone to great lengths to ensure these are no ordinary collectible cards. The characters literally come to life through specialised animation techniques which will make collecting these cards and eating eggs particularly fun for families in Australia.”

To implement the new marketing strategy, Sunny Queen worked closely with Brisbane advertising agency, BCM, and employed image recognition and augmented reality app, Blippar TM, to turn the cards into something unique that met the needs of a more digitally-minded generation.

“We knew we had to come up with something special for today’s digitally minded audiences,” BCM managing director, Paul Cornwell, said. “Every kid has a smartphone these days, so to be able to not only collect these fun cards but be able to animate them, we knew had to be a winner.”

The range features 30 characters, 10 of which have the ability to come to life on customers’ smartphones once activated on the Blippar app.

“Certainly we think kids will have fun trying to collect the whole series and we hope this will spark a new trading trend across schools in Australia,” Proctor said. “Together with the augmented reality cards we will also release a very rare Gold series which we anticipate will be very valuable to the serious collector.”

Read more: Shazam launches visual recognition content offering for brands

The collectibles idea is a natural extension for the brand’s original range of stickers, which Sunny Queen ran 45 years ago.

“Yes, there are still people that have the original collections and follow the characters to this day,” Proctor said. “The series was revolutionary then, and we hope this new launch will be equally special for the community.”

The cards will be available from Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in May for a limited time only.

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu